If the marriage was arranged it was arranged by Diana who moved right in on Prince Charles while he was dating her sister. "Accidently" showing up every time with calculated words and scanty clothing. She had told all her friends that she had to stay a virgin because she planned to marry Prince Andrew, she had assumed Prince Charles would be married by the time she was of age. One of her teachers described her as the most manipulative girl she had ever known. At the time Charles was being pressured to marry and she was the girlfriend of the moment.
When Charles and Camilla first met they were of the same social set and she was considered the prettiest and most popular girl of their group. I doubt if that 16 month age difference factored into it. I have never heard that Charles was a mamma's boy in fact the queen was far too busy to give very much time to any of her children.
Everyone who was there said Camilla and Charles fell deeply in love but the powers that be wouldn't allow him to marry her because she had previously had a serious relation ship with another boy and was no longer a virgin. They physically separated the two by sending him on a long trip.
Years passed. Diana married Prince Charles and the two found they had nothing much in common. Diana proved to be self-centered uninterested in much of anything but TV and clothes. She began to have affairs. One man was a sports star, one was a married man she chased for months calling his home incessantly to the point where the police had to step in to stop her.
At about that time,
after Diana had been unfaithful, Charles started to call the one woman in the world who he knew truly loved him for himself, Camilla.
When Diana decided she wanted a divorce she contacted Andrew Morton and told him her side of the story so that it would be published and she would be seen as the sad victim. She then went on TV to whisper sadly about herself. Suggesting she be known as the Princess of their hearts. she had always called the press to tell them when she was going to do charity work and no photo opportunities were missed so that people began to think of her as the "caring Princess" even though Princess Anne clocked three times as many hours in charity.
It was at that time Diana cast Camilla as the villain of the piece with her "there are three in our marriage," remark even though by then there were about 15 if you counted all of Diana's men who went through what the palace staff called her "revolving door. "
Camilla is hated to this day. I see her relationship with King Charles as a great romance and it's to his credit to have loved her all these years.
